Menifee is on the verge of having not one -- but two -- city managers in place. Well, sort of.

Two weeks after forming an ad hoc search committee, the City Council announced its intentions Tuesday to hire former Temecula City Manager Shawn Nelson as a consultant and to keep Rob Johnson on as Menifee’s interim manager for the foreseeable future.

Although a vote on Nelson’s contract is not expected until the Feb. 19 meeting, Mayor Scott Mann said Tuesday’s decision presented the city a best-of-both-worlds option: hiring a manager with experience and cultivating long-term staff development for the 4-year-old city.

Mann said the council is committed to building a strong foundation for the city by establishing stability and continuity of leadership.

“By having Mr. Johnson remain as interim city manager, he will provide that continuity of leadership with a targeted focus on the day-to-day operations of the city,” Mann said in an email to The U-T Californian. “By having Shawn Nelson on the team in an executive consulting capacity, he will assist the management team and the city council in establishing an organizational foundation that delivers services to residents while strategically planning for the future and preparing Menifee for economic recovery.”

Councilman John Denver said Tuesday night that Nelson would report to the council, not to Johnson.

"It allows Rob to do his job as the city manager -- he runs the city," said Councilman Wallace Edgerton, who has asked interim City Attorney Julie Biggs to draw up a consulting contract for Nelson in time for the next meeting. "Shawn is here to give us advice and can be helpful all around."

Nelson’s credentials as a chief executive are unquestioned.

In 21 years with the city of Temecula -- 13 as its city manager after a long run as a community services director -- Nelson guided Temecula as it developed from rural roots not unlike Menifee’s.

He grew Temecula’s parks from one to nearly 40 by the time he retired in December 2011, helped the city pass a special parks tax in the late ‘90s that has raised more than $50 million for that department and has continued to work on Jacob’s House -- a nonprofit named for his son, who died in a 2006 auto crash -- during his retirement. Nelson also oversaw a variety of road improvements and economic development efforts and led the redevelopment of Old Town Temecula, including the construction of the new Civic Center while on the job in Temecula.

Although the details of Nelson’s professional services contract with Menifee have not been ironed out yet, hiring him as a consultant will allow the city to save the costs of a benefits package.

The city of Temecula, meanwhile, will continue to pay Nelson through March 2014 at a rate of $11,214 every two weeks, plus benefits, because of the paid time off that he accrued in more than two decades as a high-ranking city employee. Per Nelson’s contract with Temecula, he will remain a city employee while being paid for that accrued time, Aaron Adams, Temecula’s interim city manager, recently told The U-T Californian.

With Menifee, the 52-year-old Nelson is expected to consult in the areas of strategic planning, economic development, staff development and training, organizational development, and parks and recreation services.

Mann prioritized unifying Menifee’s two parks departments -- Valley-Wide Parks & Recreation District and the county-contracted parks system west of Interstate 215 -- upon taking his seat as the city’s first elected mayor.

“Shawn Nelson is the golden standard in terms of a city manager from my perspective,” Mann said. “To be able to hire him and bring him on board as part of our executive management team for consulting services is fantastic.”

Johnson was named the acting city manager when the city and Bill Rawlings parted ways shortly after the November election. A senior manager of community improvement who joined the city of Menifee in 2009, Johnson has tackled a number of projects since taking on his new post, including finalizing an agreement for interim paving of Holland Road, beginning a number of pathway projects throughout the city and setting up a sludge workshop that’s sure to become a hot-button topic next month.

"A big issue the last four years has been the fact that we've hired city managers who were trying to do strategic things and run the day-to-day operations at the same time," said Johnson, who is making $13,334 per month as the city's interim manager. "They were just bouncing back and forth and some of the issues were getting ignored, and now we won't have that if he comes on board."

Johnson added: "I'm excited. I get an opportunity to continue doing what I love doing -- serving the community and working with the council."

The council is equally excited about the prospects of working with both Johnson and Nelson.

“The Menifee City Council is very pleased with Mr. Johnson’s performance to date, particularly in the areas of improved staff morale, issues of transparency with the public, his professional interaction with the council and his management of day-to-day operations of the city,” Mann said. “One of this new council’s goals was to change the culture at City Hall and Mr. Johnson is making progress in that area.”

With the city’s chief executive position settled for the foreseeable future, that leaves two major vacancies on the city staff: a permanent city attorney and city engineer.

Biggs replaced Joe Fletcher as the interim city attorney shortly after Rawlings left his post, and Mann said there are no immediate plans to put the search for a permanent replacement on the council’s agenda.

Meanwhile, it will be up to Johnson to find a replacement for former city engineer Don Allison, although Jonathan Smith was hired last month as the assistant director of public works and engineering.